Latest / Just Julia / I Thought Kundalini Was Woo-Woo. Then I Experienced It.

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I Thought Kundalini Was Woo-Woo. Then I Experienced It. · Just Julia

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: You know,
• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: when we sit down to update our professional resumes,
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_01: there's this this expectation of extreme precision and pride, really.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, absolutely.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's very curated.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_01: You meticulously list every new skill,
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_01: every certification, like every single promotion you fought for.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it is a highly acceptable, very polished version of who we are.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_01: But I want you to imagine taking that same relentless drive for improvement,
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_01: that same desire to upgrade yourself and pointing it inward.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: Ooh, yeah, that is where things get complicated.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_01: Because the moment you try to apply that ambition to your inner self,
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_01: that pristine resume gets messy, really messy.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: And the people around you might start looking at you a little sideways, too.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_01: They really do.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: And that tension is exactly what Julia Callas explores in a deeply personal piece
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: of writing we are looking at today.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: So welcome to the deep dive.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: Glad to be here.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_01: We are taking a close look at an essay published on September 16th, 2026.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: It's titled, I'm Not Becoming Woo Woo, I'm Becoming Curious.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: Which is such a great title.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_01: It really is.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: And for those who don't know, Julia is the creator of the Just Julia brand.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_01: That includes a Substack and a podcast dedicated to what she calls real stories,
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_01: a brighter next chapter.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: She focuses heavily on identity, on confidence, and the lives we eventually become.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_01: Which sets a fascinating stage for us.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: It does.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: Because this isn't a story about mystical healing or adopting some esoteric lifestyle.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: We are going to be looking at the profound, practical mechanics of self-awareness.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: It's really about the psychology of how we relate to ourselves when nobody else is looking.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_01: And how disruptive that can be to the people around us.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, definitely.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, let's unpack this, because our mission today is to explore this fascinating tightrope.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_01: Like, how do you,
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_01: as a highly capable,
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_01: rationally driven, professional woman, explore your inner spiritual world?
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: Without feeling like you have to adopt an entirely new quote-unquote woo-woo identity.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: But before we get into her specific story,
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like we should probably establish what a kundalini activation actually is.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's an important distinction to make early on.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_01: Because the term carries a lot of cultural baggage.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_01: So for a listener who might be completely unfamiliar,
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: what are we fundamentally talking about here?
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: Well, in traditional yogic terms, kundalini refers to a form of primal energy.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: It's believed to be located at the base of the spine.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: And an activation or an awakening is a practice designed to release that energy.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: But if we look at it through a more modern, like psychological or physiological lens.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: Which is more of what Julia is doing, I think.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: What we're really talking about is a method of deliberately altering your physiological state.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_01: So how does that work practically?
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: You're using specific breathing techniques,
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: intense focus or sometimes chanting,
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: to basically bypass your conscious analytical mind.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: You are tapping directly into your nervous system.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, that makes the concept so much more approachable.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: It's less about achieving a magical state of levitation and more about
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_01: while temporarily shutting down the part of your brain
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_01: that usually manages your daily to-do list.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: Precisely.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: It is a tool for bypassing the cognitive filters we use to navigate our everyday lives.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_01: So we start this journey with Julia arriving in Milan to attend one
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: of these Kundalini activations.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: And almost immediately,
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: there's this clash between her everyday identity and the stereotypes of what
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: a spiritual person is supposed to look like.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, the classic spiritual uniform.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_01: She actually talks about looking up photos online beforehand to figure out the dress code.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_01: She sees all these images of people in,
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_01: you know, flowing white linen clothes, bare feet looking incredibly Zen.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: And she looks at her own wardrobe.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_01: And realizes she simply doesn't own the spiritually enlightened uniform.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: Which is such a relatable moment.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: We constantly seek the uniform for the new identity we are trying on.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: It's a completely natural psychological defense mechanism.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: Wait, really?
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: A defense mechanism?
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, absolutely.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: When we enter an environment where we feel vulnerable or out of our depth,
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: our first instinct is to camouflage ourselves.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: We adopt the visual markers of that group.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: It provides a false sense of security.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_01: But she chooses this brilliant, quiet little rebellion instead.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: She decides to just show up as herself in her regular clothes.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: She realizes she doesn't need a costume to be curious.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_01: It immediately made me think of the corporate world.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_01: It is like showing up to pitch a tech startup without wearing
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_01: the mandatory Silicon Valley fleece vest or hoodie.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_01: Perfect analogy.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: It's a subtle refusal to play a part just to make other people comfortable
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: with what you're doing.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: What's fascinating here is how this wardrobe rebellion highlights
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_01: a much deeper double standard in our society.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: How so?
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_01: Well, as Julia points out in her essay,
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: she has spent years aggressively adding skills to her professional CV.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_01: She has learned, performed, improved, and society actively applauds that.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: We love measurable external achievements.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_01: We do.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_01: But the moment you prioritize self-understanding,
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: like the moment you try to build a CV of the soul, people get very suspicious.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: She specifically mentions that meditation and yoga are generally accepted now
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: because they've been successfully rebranded as productivity hacks.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_01: You meditate so you can focus better at your corporate job.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_01: But the moment you say Kundalini, things get complicated.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_01: People start throwing around the word woo woo or asking if you've joined a cult.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, they get very defensive.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_01: Which makes me want to ask you, the listener.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: Why do we applaud a woman for relentlessly upgrading her career,
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_01: but we raise our eyebrows the second she tries to upgrade her understanding
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_01: of her own mind?
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: We raise our eyebrows because internal exploration cannot be
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_01: commodified.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: Think about it.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: When you earn a new professional certification,
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: your employer understands exactly how that benefits the bottom line.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: It makes you a more effective gear in the machine.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: But when you start exploring the depths of your own subconscious, you become unpredictable.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: It shifts the power dynamic.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that makes sense.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_01: Because you aren't playing by the old rules anymore.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: The people
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: in your life realize they can no longer accurately predict your behavior based
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: on your historical patterns.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: And human beings are biologically wired to view unpredictability as a threat.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_01: That fear of the unpredictable leads perfectly into what actually happens
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_01: when Julia gets on the mat in Milan.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: Because if you have ever fallen down a rabbit hole of Kundalini videos online,
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_01: they can look incredibly dramatic.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah, very intense.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: You see people shaking,
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_01: experiencing intense physical movements,
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: sometimes crying out or having almost orgasmic emotional releases.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: Those dramatic physical releases are usually what fuel
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: the cultural skepticism we were just talking about.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: It looks entirely out of control, which terrifies the rational mind.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_01: But Julia's experience was the complete opposite of that chaos.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: It was total stillness.
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  SPEAKER_00: Just lying there.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_01: She is simply lying on a mat, wearing an eye mask, not moving at all.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: And internally, she is repeating a specific mantra she had been using for months.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_01: Show me.
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  SPEAKER_01: Guide me.
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  SPEAKER_01: Use me.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: I'm listening.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_01: I am at your service.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: Notice the phrasing of that mantra too.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: She makes a crucial distinction in her writing that she doesn't actually care who
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: or what she is speaking to.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_01: God, the universe, the subconscious mind.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: The label is entirely irrelevant to her.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: What matters is the intention.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: She is practicing a radical willingness to see the unseen parts of herself.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_01: Here's where it gets really interesting because you have to put yourself
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_01: in her shoes for a second.
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  SPEAKER_01: She is lying there
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  SPEAKER_01: in total stillness offering up this incredibly open sweeping request for guidance.
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  SPEAKER_01: Show me.
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  SPEAKER_01: Guide me.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: You'd expect a big answer to that.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_01: If you ask the universe for that kind of direction,
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_01: you expect a grand vision,
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  SPEAKER_01: a cinematic projection of your future career or a profound sweeping realization
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  SPEAKER_01: about the nature of the cosmos.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: You expect a strategic roadmap for the next decade of your life.
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  SPEAKER_01: But instead,
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_01: what she sees in her mind's eye is a memory of herself at three,
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_01: four, or maybe five years old.
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  SPEAKER_01: She is just a little girl standing shyly in the corner of
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_01: a children's birthday party watching all the other kids play.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: Just a quiet, vulnerable memory.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_01: But wait, I'm struggling with this a bit.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_01: If you ask the universe or your subconscious for a roadmap to your future,
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_01: isn't seeing a frightened toddler a failure of the exercise?
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_01: Like, how is that a breakthrough?
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: It feels like a failure.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, unpack that for me.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: Right, it wants certainty.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: But by dropping her expectations,
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: lying in stillness,
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: and cutting off visual input with the eye mask,
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: Julia essentially stalled out her brain's predictive machinery.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: She bypassed the ego completely.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: So by taking the ego offline,
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_01: the brain stops trying to project the future and instead pulls up the actual root
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_01: of her current anxieties.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly that.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: The subconscious mind does not care about your career trajectory.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: It cares about unresolved emotional loops.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: By surrendering the need for a strategic plan,
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: she allowed her mind to present the exact foundational memory she needed
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: to confront.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: Understanding that psychological mechanism makes the next phase of her experience
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: so much more powerful.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: Once you see that frightened little kid in your mind,
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_01: The immediate instinct,
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_01: especially for an ambitious,
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_01: capable professional, is to intervene and fix the situation.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, totally.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: The instinct is to manage the vulnerability out of existence.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_01: But adult Julia just sits down beside the little girl.
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  SPEAKER_01: She crucially does not tell her to be braver.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_01: She doesn't tell her to toughen up or go join the other kids.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: No pep talks.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_01: None.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_01: She doesn't deliver a motivational speech about all the amazing businesses
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_01: and projects she is going to build in the future.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_01: She just sits beside her to silently convey, you know, I'm here.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_01: You're safe.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not leaving.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: Julia notes that being
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: a mother fundamentally changed how she approached this internal interaction.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: She viewed this younger version of herself through the lens of motherhood.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_01: Which changes everything.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: It really does.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: Because when you look at your own child who is genuinely terrified,
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: your first instinct isn't to analyze their psychological shortcomings
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: or demand they perform bravery.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: Your only instinct is to regulate their nervous system by making them feel safe.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_01: But let me push back on that because I think a lot
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: of highly driven people listening might struggle with this concept.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_01: In the real world,
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_01: if you just, quote,
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_01: sit with your inner frightened child instead of pushing them to be brave,
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_01: don't you risk wallowing in your trauma?
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: That's a very common fear.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: Like we live in a highly competitive society.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_01: Isn't some level of toughening up necessary to survive?
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_01: If she just sits there and says,
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_01: you're safe, doesn't that reinforce the fear instead of overcoming it?
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: It sounds counterintuitive, I know, but neurobiology actually tells us the exact opposite.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_01: Really?
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_00: When you tell a frightened child or the internal representation of one
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: to toughen up,
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: you are sending a message that their current emotional state is unacceptable.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: This spikes cortisol and reinforces the shame response.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: They learn to hide the fear, not process it.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_01: So the fear doesn't go away.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_01: It just gets buried under a layer of shame and performance.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: If we connect this to the bigger picture,
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: Julia is illustrating the difference between true self-development and
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: the toxic kind of self-improvement we are often sold.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_01: The toxic kind being?
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: Toxic improvement is about eradicating our old, frightened selves.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: It is a war against your inner weakness.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: True development is about integration.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: By simply sitting with a child and offering unconditional presence, Julia neutralizes the shame.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: Once the nervous system feels safe,
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: the need to hide in the corner naturally dissipates on its own.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to force bravery.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: Bravery is the natural byproduct of feeling secure.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_01: That is profound.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: And that transition from protecting the younger self
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_01: to actually accepting safety brings up a really difficult hurdle in her essay.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_01: Because if you have spent your whole life being the protector,
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_01: moving into a state of receiving care is terrifying.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_00: It requires a completely different skill set.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: So later in the activation,
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_01: Julia is lying on the mat with her palms facing upwards and she consciously thinks
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_01: to herself, I give myself permission to receive.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: She admits in the text that she is a classic giver,
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_01: a people pleaser who historically deflects compliments.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: The reflex to say, oh,
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: this old thing,
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: when someone compliments your dress,
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_00: or to immediately downplay a major professional accomplishment.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: I like to call this Teflon syndrome.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's good.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_01: It is incredibly common in highly capable people.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_01: Demands, responsibilities, other people's crises, those stick to you like glue.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: You handle them all without blinking,
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_01: but compliments, care,
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: or people genuinely trying to help you,
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_01: that slides right off like you are coated in Teflon.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: How so?
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: That is so true.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: For someone used to operating as the fixer,
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: lying palms up and consciously deciding to just receive care requires letting
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: the armor drop entirely.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_01: And she has been practicing this in her daily life too,
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_01: trying to simply say thank you when complimented instead of instantly deflecting
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_01: or offering a compliment in return.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_01: Lying palms up on the mat was the physical embodiment of that mental practice.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: And that posture of receiving leads her to a second childhood memory during the activation.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_01: She remembers being a kid in her parents' living room in Brazil.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: A much happier memory this time.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_01: Very much so.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_01: She recalls spending hours in the corner of that living room,
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_01: meticulously building an entire perfect little world for her Barbies,
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_01: arranging the kitchen,
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_01: the clothes, getting everything exactly the way she wanted it.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_01: It was a moment of pure, focused childhood joy.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: And then the instructor guides them through an exercise.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_01: The instructor asks them to imagine receiving a letter written by that happy child
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_01: to their adult self.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_01: And Julia's letter contained just one single word, love.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: She clarifies that this isn't romantic love.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_00: It is a quiet,
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: profound love between the child she was,
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: the woman she is today, and the woman she is still becoming.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_01: It ties it all together.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_00: It acts as the ultimate counterweight to the frightened child at the birthday party.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: She is acknowledging that she possesses both the deep-seated fear and
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: an inherent bandless capacity for joy and love.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: Integrating both is the key.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_01: Which really zooms us out to the ultimate thesis of her essay.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_01: Julia is very intellectually honest about her journey.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_01: She notes that this wasn't her first Kundalini experience.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: She'd done this before.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_01: She had attended one previously at Mindvalley University in Tallinn,
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_01: which she describes as much more physically intense.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_01: And shortly after that Tallinn experience, she started writing.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_01: She created her brand, Just Julia.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_01: She finally started putting words to stories she had kept locked inside for years.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_01: But she is very careful not to draw a straight, unscientific line of causation.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: She doesn't claim that a magical energy unlocked her writing ability.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_00: She simply observes that the timing made her intensely curious.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate that about her framing.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: Me too.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: She is exploring this intersection of mind and body without feeling the need
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: to prove it in a laboratory,
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: but also without feeling the need to dress it up in mystical language.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: It's a very grounded approach to personal growth.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_00: She isn't evangelizing the method itself.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: She is evangelizing the mindset of curiosity.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_01: So what does this all mean?
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_01: If the goal isn't to chase mystical enlightenment and it isn't
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_01: to become some perfectly healed floating on a cloud woman
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_01: who never experiences anxiety again,
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_01: what is the actual point of doing all this heavy inner work?
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_00: The goal, as she beautifully articulates, is simply to become conscious.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_01: Just conscious.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: To become aware of the thoughts that automatically pop up when she is insecure.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: To notice the moments when fear starts driving her decisions instead of logic.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: To become conscious of those old,
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: deeply ingrained behavioral patterns that she has carried for so long,
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: she actually mistakes them for her core personality.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_01: This raises an important question for all of us.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_01: How much of what you proudly call your personality is actually just
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_01: a decades-old coping mechanism?
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_00: That is the million-dollar question.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_01: Like, are you naturally hyper-organized and detail-oriented?
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_01: Or did you learn early on in childhood that controlling every variable
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_01: in your environment was the only way to feel safe?
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_01: Are you naturally a cynical, witty person?
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_01: Or did you learn that making the joke first protected you from being laughed at by others?
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: Her ultimate realization is that our past can explain parts of us without deciding
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: who we will be tomorrow.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_00: The little girl hiding in the corner explains the adult's instinct
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_00: to deflect compliments or avoid vulnerability.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: But the adult now has the consciousness to choose a different action.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_01: The power to choose.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_00: Reclaiming your power isn't about controlling everything and everyone around you.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: It is about becoming conscious of what has been quietly controlling you from the inside.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_00: When you bring these unconscious drivers into the light,
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: you create a tiny gap of space between a trigger and your reaction.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: And in that gap lies your actual free will.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_01: It changes the entire paradigm of self-improvement.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_01: We don't have to be perfectly healed or void of all insecurities
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_01: to be effective leaders or brilliant professionals or good parents.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_01: You don't need a pristine inner resume.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_00: You really don't.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_01: We just need to cultivate enough awareness to catch ourselves when
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_01: that frightened five-year-old takes the steering wheel and gently,
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_01: compassionately take it back.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_00: It shifts the framework from a project that needs to be completed and graded to
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_00: a lifelong practice of noticing.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: You aren't fixing yourself.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_00: You are just getting to know yourself.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_01: Bringing this directly back to you,
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_01: the listener,
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_01: whether you are leading a corporate team,
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_01: raising a family,
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_01: or simply trying to navigate your own quiet reinvention right now,
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_01: true power comes from getting to know the person underneath all
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_01: of those impressive external roles.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_01: It is about doing the work to understand the root of your reactions so
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_01: that your past can inform you without quietly dictating your future.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_00: If this exploration of identity and consciousness resonated with you,
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_00: reading the full source material is highly recommended.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_00: The article is titled, I Am Not Becoming Woo Woo, I Am Becoming Curious.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: It was published on September 16, 2026 on the Just Julia Substack.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_01: And while you were exploring her writing,
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_01: make sure to follow and listen to the Just Julia podcast.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_01: You can find it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or directly through her Substack page.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_01: It is a fantastic resource filled with stories exploring identity,
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_01: confidence, and the messy, beautiful process of reinvention.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: It's definitely worth checking out.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_01: But before we wrap up today, we want to leave you with a final thought to mull over this week.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_01: Something that builds on everything we have unpacked today.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_01: We spend a lot of time talking about how to sit with and comfort the frightened,
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_01: shy versions of our younger selves, the parts of us that clearly need care.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_00: We focus easily on the wounds.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_01: But what if you took a moment this week to look at the parts of yourself
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_01: that you are most fiercely proud of today?
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_01: Look at your relentless drive, your perfectionism, your fierce independence.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_00: The impressive stuff.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_01: And I want you to ask yourself, are these my greatest natural strengths?
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_01: Or are they just the heavy armor that a very smart little girl built
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_01: to protect
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_00: herself and simply forgot to take off?
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe it is time to update the resume one more time,
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_01: but this time you don't need to list the armor.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_01: It has been such a joy taking this deep dive with you today.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for listening.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for being curious.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_01: And we will catch you next time.